Influence of Composition and Structure on the Optoelectronic Properties of Photocatalytic Bi4NbO8Cl-Bi2GdO4Cl Intergrowths

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Nayana Christudas Beena
  • Nicolas P.L. Magnard
  • Danilo Puggioni
  • Roberto dos Reis
  • Kaustav Chatterjee
  • Xun Zhan
  • Vinayak P. Dravid
  • James M. Rondinelli
  • Jensen, Kirsten Marie Ørnsbjerg
  • Sara E. Skrabalak

Mixed metal oxyhalides are an exciting class of photocatalysts, capable of the sustainable generation of fuels and remediation of pollutants with solar energy. Bismuth oxyhalides of the types Bi4MO8X (M = Nb and Ta; X = Cl and Br) and Bi2AO4X (A = most lanthanides; X = Cl, Br, and I) have an electronic structure that imparts photostability, as their valence band maxima (VBM) are composed of O 2p orbitals rather than X np orbitals that typify many other bismuth oxyhalides. Here, flux-based synthesis of intergrowth Bi4NbO8Cl-Bi2GdO4Cl is reported, testing the hypothesis that both intergrowth stoichiometry and M identity serve as levers toward tunable optoelectronic properties. X-ray scattering and atomically resolved electron microscopy verify intergrowth formation. Facile manipulation of the Bi4NbO8Cl-to-Bi2GdO4Cl ratio is achieved with the specific ratio influencing both the crystal and electronic structures of the intergrowths. This compositional flexibility and crystal structure engineering can be leveraged for photocatalytic applications, with comparisons to the previously reported Bi4TaO8Cl-Bi2GdO4Cl intergrowth revealing how subtle structural and compositional features can impact photocatalytic materials.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInorganic Chemistry
Volume63
Issue number18
Pages (from-to)8131–8141
Number of pages11
ISSN0020-1669
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by Indiana University and US NSF DMR-2113536. K.M.\u00D8.J and N.P.L.M. gratefully acknowledge the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science for funding through the SMART Lighthouse. They further thank DANSCATT (supported by the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education) for support. We acknowledge MAX IV Laboratory for the time on Beamline DanMAX. Research conducted at MAX IV is supported by the Swedish Research Council under contract 2018-07152, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems under contract 2018-04969, and Formas under contract 2019-02496. DanMAX is funded by the NUFI grant no. 4059-00009B. This work made use of the EPIC facility of Northwestern University\u2019s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the SHyNE Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633), the IIN, and Northwestern\u2019s MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139). Computational work at NU was supported by the NSF through DMR-2011208. Calculations were performed using the Department of Defense High-Performance Computing Modernization Program (DOD-HPCMP).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Chemical Society.

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